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Book Review: A Necessary Act by Tony Wirt

Here’s an interesting question: What would you do if you were certain that a psycho acquaintance was going to become a serial killer? What if he had all the signs and perfectly matched the profile?

What if you’d seen him burn a cat alive? What if he had bones of dead animals that he’d killed hanging like trophies in a shed?

Would you wait until he killed someone? Or would you try to stop him?

Scott is the would-be serial killer that best friends David and Matt have known since high school.

At first, the story is about Scott’s increasingly disturbing behavior, and David and Matt’s decision that something should be done before someone dies. The first portion of the book builds the case that Scott is a dangerous person. That gives the justification for what comes later.

But, like a magician mis-directing his audience, the story turns and the focus is on David and Matt, the worried watchers, and their reactions, more than the dark deeds of the disturbed serial-killer-in-training.

And it is a scary read.

I truly felt apprehensive as the naive Good Samaritans sneak into the secret lair of their psycho friend. Like the characters, I was both nervous about what they would find in the dark and what would happen to them if they were discovered by their disturbed acquaintance.

I read through this story very quickly, putting aside some of my other books so that I could finish this and find out what happens. It is a page-turner. And I was truly surprised and caught off guard by the ending twist. That was great!

The plot moves forward logically and systematically. There were no un-necessary side stories.
I was surprised at the amount of time that the story covers, much more than just the high school years. But after completing the novel, I see how the time was needed for the characters to go to their deepest dark levels.

I felt that the book might have needed another editing pass, because there were a few typos and awkward phrases. But these minor irregularities didn’t inhibit my enjoyment of the story.

So I recommend A Necessary Act for any readers, but especially if you like scary thrillers.
Four out of Five stars.